ST. GEORGE — Four people were transported to the hospital following a two-vehicle crash on state Route 9 in Hurricane Monday.
The collision destroyed both vehicles and injured both drivers, as well as the two passengers in the pickup truck that rolled during impact.
Shortly after 5 p.m., officers and emergency personnel were dispatched to a two-vehicle crash at the intersection of SR-9 and North 3400 West, just west of Southern Parkway in Hurricane. The incident involved a Toyota Tundra pickup truck pulling a flatbed trailer and a Nissan Rogue.
Multiple ambulances and officers were called to the scene due to the severity of the crash and to assist with traffic control to divert motorists away from the intersection where debris was scattered across the roadway.
Hurricane Police officer Dan Raddatz told St. George News that all four occupants – the driver of the Nissan who sustained a head injury in the crash and the three occupants in the Toyota – were transported to St. George Regional Hospital by ambulance to be treated for their injuries. He also said any further information regarding the extent of the injuries was not available at the time of this report.
Raddatz said the crash initially was reported as a head-on collision. After officers arrived to find the pickup truck on its side and the heavily-damaged Nissan partially blocking the intersection, it was deemed the scene that was inconsistent with a frontal impact.
Instead, he said, it appeared the Nissan struck the flatbed trailer, and the force of the impact spun the truck around and flipped it over, while the Nissan was found completely destroyed in an upright position following the crash.
A head-on impact was likely averted when the driver of the pickup swerved as soon as they saw the Nissan coming, he said, adding that the force of the impact with the trailer left a debris field that extended across the roadway for several yards.
Raddatz also said photos from the scene indicate the driver of the Nissan was not restrained at the time of the crash, based on the damage to the Nissan’s windshield, while the occupants in the Nissan were buckled up. Traffic was impacted for more than an hour.
This report is based on statements from court records, police or other responders and may not contain the full scope of findings. Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.
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